Artificial arm



P. NICOLA.

ARTIFICIAL ARM. APPLICATIQN FILED MAY 23. 19,22.

Patented July 11, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

P. NICOLA. ARTIFICIAL ARM. APPLICATIGN FILED MAY 23, 1922.

' Patented July 11, 1922.

SHEET 2.

2 SHEETS r halwl we sit ARTIFICIAL ARM.

Application filed May 23, 19.22.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER NIooLA, a citizen of the United States,residing at Danville, in the county of Montour and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Artificial Arm, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to an artificial arm, one of its objects being toprovide a device of this character designed primarily for use where thestump extends below the elbow so that by manipulating the stump itbecomes possible not only to bend the artificial arm but also to imparta turning motion to the hand portion thereof, thus to enable the deviceto be used in handling a spoon, in tipping the hat, and for similarpurposes.

Another object is to provide an artificial arm with an articulated handportion the members of which are shiftable by the movement of theshoulders of the user so as to cause said members to close together orto open as desired.

Another object is to provide a hand mechanism which is compact anddurable, the parts of which are all neatly housed, and which, whenclosed, in a glove, will have the appearance of a natural hand.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope ofwhat is claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the inventionshown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the pre ferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the artificial arm.

Figure 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of theelbow joint.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the hand portion, the little finger andthumb being shown partly in section.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the hand mechanism.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5, Figure 4.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Juiy 11, 1322.

Serial No. 563,088.

Figure 6 is a section on line Figure 41.

Figure 7 is a section on line 77, Figure Figure 8 is a section on line8-8 Figure 3. 1

Figure 9 is a plan view of portions of the notched slides and the pawlscooperating therewith.

Figure 10 is a view showing in detail the two pawls.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates thebody portion of the hand, the same having a narrow wrist portion 2and awidened hand portion 3. The wrist port-ion 2 is closed at one end asshown at 4.- and has a shank portion 5 extending therefrom and pivotallymounted as at 6 between ears '7 projecting from a sleeve 8. This sleeveis secured to the forearm portion 9 of the arm. The upper arm portion10-is connected to the forearm portion by a stem 11 swiveled within apivotally mounted sleeve 12 and having a forked end 13 pivotallyconnected to an car 14. Ear 14: is secured to the forearm portion 9while sleeve 12 is movably mounted on the upper arm portion 10, theseparts being located at one side of the center line of the two a-rmportions. Arranged along the center line of the two arm portions is ajointed stem'15 one end of which is pivotally connected to ears 16 onthe forearm 9 while the other end portion is slidable within a guidesleeve 17 on the upper arm portion 10. A pin 18 extends from this endportion of the stem 15 and is adapted during the sliding movement of thestem 15 to enter an oblique slot 19 in sleeve 17. Thus when the forearmportion 9 is swung upwardly relative to the upper arm portion 10 aboutthe parts 11, 12 and 1%. as the connection, the stem will be shiftedlongitudinally and the pin 18, entering slot 19, will cause stem 15 torotate and impart a twist to the forearm 9 sufiicient to bring the handportion in proper position to direct a spoon to the mouth or to carrythe fingers to the hat worn by the user.

A reenforcing strap 20 is secured along the forearm 9 and links 21connect this strap to the upper arm portion 10. A sheave 22 is mountedon the forearm portion 9 and is engaged by an actuating; cord 23extending through an opening 24 in the forearm and adapted to beextended across the back of the shoulders of the wearer so that bymanipulating the shoulders the wearer is enabled to pull on the cordwhile the arm is being held stationary.

Extending from the body portion 1 of the hand at that end thereof remotefrom the end 4: is a transverse series of cars 25 arranged in pairs, onepair of cars being provided for each of the four fingers and the spacebetween the pairs of ears being filled with any suitable material suchas blocks of cork 26. A pivot bolt 27 is extended transversely throughthese earsand formedwithin the ears are arcnate slots 28 in which isslida'bly mounted a stop rod 29. This rod extends through strips 30which are arranged in pairs, one pair being mounted between the ears 25of each pain The strips of each pair are formed-integral withthe innermember-"31 of'on'e of the fingers and pivotally mounted to the outer endof this inner member isthe outer member 32 of the fin er, the pointofconnection between the members being indicated at 33. A lever 34 isfulcrumed between the strips 30 of each finger and is connected by alink 35 to the outer member 32 of' the finger. Thus when lever- 34isswung. on its fulcrum 36 itwill' pull'o'r push the link 35 so as tocause the finger'm'ember 32 to swing relative to the member 31 ofsaidfinger;

transverse shaft 3711s fulcrumed in the sidesof tlie body 1 nearthe'ear's 25 and ex tending inwardly from this shaft are arms 38 towhich the respective levers 34 are pivotally connected. Thus by'rotatingshaft 37 all of the fingers will shift. v

Shaft 37 also has a pair of arms 39 eX- tendin'gftherefrom andconnectedby a rod 40. A bracket 41 is 'extendedfrom the body 1' andpivotally mounted on this bracket is a bell crank 42'one arm 13o'f'which bears downwardly on the rod 40f The other arm is pivotallyconnected to a rod 44 slidablc in a cross head 15 and within theclosedend l of the body. This rod has an angular notch 46therein.Ahotherrodll? is slidably mounted in the cross head 45 and inthe closed'end 4, this rodbeing pivotally connected to the stem 48 of a liftinghook 49 which extends under the rodlO a's'shown' particularly in Figure6. This lifting hook is pivotally connected as at 50 to acam lever 51having aslotted arm 52m'ovably engaged by a lug 53 extending from therod 44-.

An ear 54 is provided on the body 1 and is slidably engagedby a stem 55projecting from a slide 56; this slide having a stepped end 57 which isnormally pressed against one of the arms 39 by a spring 581nounted onthe stem 55 and bearing against" ear 54.

Said arm 39 has a, flat face adapted to engage any one of the steps 57.Thus it will be seen that the slide 56 constitutes abolt for holding arm39 when shifted to any position away from that shown in Figure 5. Thisslide has a laterally extending finger 60 against which the cam lever 51bears. This finger slides on a rod 61 supported by ears 62 and a spring63 bears against the finger and cooperates with the spring 59 to holdthe slide 56 normally pressed toward the arm 39.

The cross head 45has a stem 64@ projecting therefrom and slidable withinthe shank portion 5. A spring 65 is mounted on this stem andthrustsagainst' the cross head so as to hold it normally pressed towardthe fingers. A pivot pin 66 is arranged in the cross head and oppositelydisposed dogs or pawls-67 and 68 are mounted on this pin, there beingcooperating projections 69 and 70 on the dogs or pawls forlimiting-their relative movement under the action of a spreading spring71 located between said dogs or pawls. A notch 72 is provided in the rod47 and'the pawls or dogs 67 and 68' are arranged between the two rods 44and -17 and are designed-to engage the respective notches.

. A leve'r 73 is fulcrumed on' a'b racketia' extending from the shankportion 5 and a link 75 connects this lever tothe stem 64.

A yoke 7 6 is pivotally attached to the free end'of the lever 73 and'isengaged by the" knotted end of tliecord 23.

A bell crank 77 is fulcrumed on one side of the body 1 (see Figureil)and is connected to one of the arms 38' of shaft 37 by a link 78. Thuseach time shaft 37 is re} tated the link 7 8 will actuate bell crank 77which, in turn, will transmit motion through a link T9 to the rod'29;'Obviously, therefore, while thelevers 3 1 are pulling'on the strips30 soas to rotate them about the pivot 27. the link 79 is thrusting on thepin29 so extended therefrom and forked," as at 86 for engagement by a lug87 extending laterally from a lever 88. This lever is fulcrumed ononeside of the body 1 near the wristportion thereof and is connected by alink 89' to an arm 90 extending from one end of the shaft 37. Thus whenthe shaft is rotatedtopull on levers 34: and bend the fingers, arm 9bers 81 and 82 toward the folding fingers,

cord 23.

'thereby to grip an article inserted between the fingers and the thumb.

As heretofore explained the shoulders of the user can be shifted so asto pull upon the A certain movement of this cord will cause lever 73 topull stem 64 back against the action of spring 65 so that the dog orpawl 68 which is normally seated in the notch 72 will pull on the rod47. Thus hook 49 will be swung so as to lift up on the rod 10 and causeshaft 87 to rotate. This will result in the bending of the fingers andthe movement of the fingers and thumb toward each other. Cord 23 is thenslackened whereupon spring 65 will move the cross head 45 back to itsinitial position. This will cause the pawl or dog 68 to move out ofnotch 72 and the spring 71 will be placed under compression. When it isdesired to open the hand the cord 23 is again pulled taut and will slidethe cross head until the pawl or dog 67 springs into notch 16 where uponrod 44 will be pulled. This will actuate bell crank 11 which will thrustthe rod 10 downwardly and open the fingers and shift the thumb. At thesame time the cam lever 51 will thrust against finger 60 and push thebolt 56 out of engagement with the adjacent arm 39 so that the parts arefree to operate. It is to be understood of course that when the hand isclosed the stepped portion 57 of bolt 56 wedges between one of the arms39 and the body 1 so as to prevent the fingers from opening.

Obviously the hand portion of this device can be provided with asuitable housing, not shown so as to present a smooth surface to a gloveor other covering placed on the hand. The movement of the fingersislimited by the rod 29 coming against the end walls of the slots 28.

What is claimed is 1. In an artificial arm a hand portion including abody, a shaft mounted for rotation, jointed fingers and a jointed thumboperatively connected to said shaft for movement toward or from eachother, separate pivotally mounted members for rotating the shaft inopposite directions respectively, a cross head, means for actuating thecross head, and separate means operated by successive movements of thecross head in one direction for actuating the respective pivotedmembers.

2. In an artificial arm a hand portion including a finger and a thumboppositely disposed and mounted for swinging movement, a shaft,connections between the shaft and the finger and thumb for moving saidfinger and thumb toward or from each other, separate pivoted members forrotating the shaft in either direction respectively, a slidable crosshead, means for actuating it, and means operated by successive movementsof the cross head in one direction for actuating the pivoted memberssuccessively.

3. In an artificial arm a hand portion including pivotally mountedfinger and thumb portions, a shaft. means operated by the rotation ofthe shaft for swinging said members toward or from each other, separatepivoted members, means operated thereby for rotating the shaft in eitherdirection respectively, a. cross head, means operated by the movement ofthe cross head in one direction for shifting one of said members to movethe thumb and finger portions toward each other, means released by thesame movement of the cross head for locking the thumb and fingerportions against return movement, and means operated by a secondmovement of the cross head in the same direction for unlocking the thumband finger portions and for moving them apart.

4. In an artificial arm a hand portionincluding a thumb portion and afinger portion pivotally mounted, a shaft, means operated by the shaftfor moving the thumb and finger portion toward or from each other, abolt, means on the shaft and cooperatin with the bolt for holding thethumb and nger portion against movement in one direction, a cross head,means for shifting the cross head in one direction, and separate meansactuated by successive movements of the cross head for rotating theshaft in opposite directions respectively.

5. In an artificial arm a hand portion including pivoted thumb andfinger portions, said portions being jointed, levers mounted within thethumb and finger portions, connections between said levers and parts ofthe thumb and finger port-ions for flexing said portions when the leversare actuated, a shaft, connections between the shaft and levers formoving the thumb and finger portions toward or from each other, a crosshead, means for shifting the cross head in one direction, separate meansoperated by successive movements of the cross head in one direction forrotating the shaft in opposite directions respectively, and means forautomatically returning the cross head to its initial position aftereach shift thereof.

6. An artificial hand including opposed finger and thumb portionspivotally mounted, a shaft, means operated by the shaft for moving saidportions toward or from each other, a pin movable with the shaft andparallel therewith, separate levers co-operating with the pin forshifting it in opposite directions respectively, slidable rods connectedto the respective levers, a string con trolled cross head slidablymounted on the rods, said rods being notched, spring controlleddogscarried by the (-rosshead for engagement With the respective notchedrods, andmeans for shifting. the cross headsuccessively to successivelycouple the cross head to the respective rods through the dogs andnotches.

7. An artificial hand including opposedfinger and thumb portionspivotallv mounted, a shaft, means: operated by the shaft for moving saidportions toward or from each other, a pin movable- Withthe shaft andparallel therewith, separate levers cooperating with the pin forshifting it in-oppositedirections respectively, slidable rods connectedto the respective levers, a springcontrolled cross headslidably mountedon-the rods, said rods being notched, spring controlled vdogs carriedbythe cross head for engagement With the respective notched rods,and-means for shifting the cross head successively to successlvelycouple thecross head to the respective rods through the:

means-operated by one of the rods for shifting the: bolt-toreleasetheshaft.

8. In an artificial arm the combination: With-an upper arm portion and aforearm portion, of a stem hingedly connected toand slidably engaged bythe stem, said sleeve havin an oblique slot, and means on the shdab estem for entering the slot to rotate the stem during the slidingmovement thereof, said-stems cooperating-to im part. a turning motion tothe forearm portion during its swinging movement relative-to thelupperarm portion.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflied-my sig; nature in 1 the presence of two witnesses.

7 PETER NICQLA. Witnesses-- C. HENRY, J .AS. RYAN.

